If you own

property along any of Fayette County's state highways, you might want

to attend Thursday's County Commission meeting.

Commissioners

will consider a spate of new architectural and development regulations

for commercial and industrial development along the major thoroughfares.

Special standards

already are in effect for Ga. highways 85 north, 54 west, 314 north and

74 north. Commissioners will now consider the county Planning Commission's

recommendation that special rules, called overlays, be placed on the remaining

highway corridors.

"I have

a real problem with this," said Planning Commission member Al Gilbert

before casting the lone vote against the recommendation earlier this month.

"I think government sometimes steps beyond a role it should be involved

in. The people we're hurting are the small business people in our community."

In previous

discussions, other members of the commission have argued that the new

rules are aimed at balancing the rights of property owners with the need

for good planning.

Following some

recent controversial rezoning decisions on Hwy. 85 south, the Planning

Commission began to discuss the idea of imposing special standards there.

Out of that

discussion came the idea of applying special standards for all state highways.

Gilbert said

he is mainly concerned with small businesses along Hwy. 85, who would

have to rebuild in accordance with the new standards in the case of a

fire or other disaster.

"Some

of those people have been there a lot longer than some of us," he

said.

The County

Commission will consider the new rules at 7 p.m. at the County Administrative

Complex.

The new overlays

are among a host of amendments to county ordinances proposed by the Planning

Commission.

Included are

changes in regulations for communications towers, allowing administrative

approval for increasing the height of existing towers under some circumstances.

Also, commissioners

will consider doing away with a cap on parking spaces for nonresidential

developments, since new limits on the percentage of developments that

can be paved accomplish the same purpose.

Commissioners

also will deal with six agenda items that involve required updates to

the county's compliance with the Atlanta Regional Commission's Regional

Development Plan.

Two rezoning

requests on the agenda include Donald J. and Donald Glen Davis' plan for

a repair facility for large trucks on Ga. Highway 85 north, and a request

for residential zoning to allow a single home on 3.99 acres on South Kite

Lake Road.

The Planning

Commission is recommending approval of both requests.